Fast Food Cashier Turns Life Around, Now She Runs 8 Restaurants

By Amanda Thomason June 10, 2018 at 12:21pm

Diane Liddell is no stranger to making difficult choices, but she’s proof that you can bounce back and become a stronger person through those choices.

Pregnant at the age of 16, Liddell knew her life was about to change forever. “Me being as young as I was, the baby’s father was not supportive at all,” she said.

And with that, she was on her own.

“My mother was disappointed (at first), of course,” Liddell said. “And then my father was supportive and said, you know, ‘Whatever you need.'”

What she needed was a job and income to help support herself and her child. She had several part-time jobs that helped, but they weren’t enough to live off of.

But being the driven individual that she was, she knew where she wanted to work. Church’s Chicken.

A local restaurant was hiring, and she wanted to make it onto the short list — but it took time. But, as she explained, “I’m kinda like self-driven.”

“Everybody was getting hired,” she said. “I kept tackling the manager day after day after day. And then two years after I had the baby, he finally gave me an opportunity.”

That was only the beginning. Her foot was barely in the door, but her determination and grit came to her aid and with hard work she became a formidable asset to the chain.

Starting as a lowly cashier, Liddell made it a point to learn every position and advance through the ranks. The challenge was one she gladly accepted.

At one point, Church’s was offering a program for outstanding managers. For $25,000 they could get their own location.

Liddell was able to save up $19,000 — and then the company changed hands and her opportunity was lost.

“That didn’t discourage me, because I’m all about the people,” she said. And that’s evident in the way she talks about coworkers and customers: Her goal is to serve.

And she’s been doing that for 40 years now.

Liddell set her sights on another Church’s location, and began working her way up to the position of market leader to lead a group of restaurants.

One of the ways she now serves her community is by encouraging staff to participate in Strides for Success, a program that offers compensation for employees who complete high school and get their diplomas.

In fact, she’s so serious about her people and this program that her locations have had some of the most graduates.

She’s not the 16-year-old that she once was, and now she enjoys spending time with her grandkids. While her first son has since passed away, she’s been blessed with two other children and her own grandkids.

And she has words of wisdom for anyone in the restaurant business: “Don’t serve anyone anything that you would not serve to your grandkids.”

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